Keir Starmer's Technofix For The NHS: Déjà Vu Disaster Or Brave New Blunder?

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Be aware of the problems caused by over-optimism and underestimation

COMMENT Nearly 20 years after the biggest public sector technology disaster in UK history , a £12 billion wave of contracts has returned to work…

'They' are Labor and 'he' promises to upgrade the NHS with 'technological' miracles.

In an op-ed in the Guardian, the opposition leader lamented the state of the NHS after the devastating impact of the pandemic and years of controversial underfunding.

But Labor was shocked. Even if he has a good chance of winning the next general election, most likely in 2024, his political ability to raise taxes to pay one of the world's largest healthcare providers, which already drains his $160.40 billion annual budget, will be limited. The pound suffers from a severe shortage of doctors and nurses in the UK.

"There are other changes that will reform the NHS and the way it works and save money," the opposition leader said, dreaming off into the distance, absorbed in a vision of a better future that only he could see.

Is this the change you asked for? "Moving from an analog system to a fully digital NHS system. The NHS is well positioned to benefit from advances in science and technology, if only ministers are aware of this," said Sir Keir.

Yes yes. If any minister were to push the concoction of IT onto business agendas and policies in the 25 years since the internet took off, he'd think the NHS would be more prolific in investing in technology.

The problem is them. most of the time. And it doesn't end well.

In 2003 the National Program for Information Technology (NPfiIT), which began contracting with the Labor government in 2003 with a budget of £12.7 billion, has significantly reduced the demand for electronic health records in the NHS.

In In 2011, the National Audit Office (NAO) found that the £2.7 billion spent to date is undervalued. Based on these findings, the Office of Internal Audit (NAO) has no reason to believe that the remaining £4.3 billion planned to be spent on medical records will be any different.

After the NPfiT fiasco – there have been many minor successes – the Coalition and Conservative governments have been more modest in their ambitions for NHS TI, but they have still managed to fall short.

In 2020, the National Assessment Office warned that a lack of systemic learning from past failures meant "significant risks across all sectors" to the successful implementation of the government's digital transformation portfolio launched in 2014.

Since then, more efforts have been made. In early 2022, the UK's health minister used "technology technology" to remove 6 million UK waiting lists due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Then, in June of that year, the NHS committed to rolling out electronic health records for all hospitals and community practices by 2025, at a cost of £2 billion.

Despite having been in business for more than 20 years, the weaknesses were obvious. A study carried out by the British Medical Association last December found that the UK healthcare alone loses more than 13.5 million hours worked each year due to inadequate IT systems and equipment.

To name a few, During the summer heatwave of 2022, Guy's and St. It took Thomas two months to reach the 371 e-health system due to problems caused by an outdated IT system.

As if nothing was clear, Starmer continues to give "patients more choices and more opportunities to take better control of our health."

This commitment has a history that began with the National Information Technology Program. First proposed in 2000, the Choose-and-Write project was funded in 2003 by a five-year, £64.5 million contract with commercial supplier Atos. It was promised that the patient would choose a hospital in consultation with his family doctor through an electronic reservation system. It was discontinued in 2014.

The problem is that there is practically no choice. In a 2014 study found that during GP consultations, "hospital options are never presented to the patient as an external necessity (something the doctor has to do), the doctor often emphasizes the notion of malpractice." Express humor or anger.

The study found no cases where a patient chose to go elsewhere than the local hospital, and only one instance of a staff member stating that the choice had been made (at one point).

None of this means that technology can't help the NHS. Technology can be scaled up, and efficiency can be increased if properly identified. But it's foolish to expect that you can use technology to solve deep and complex organizational problems. And you can do worse. ®